- Joined
- May 20, 2014
Buoyed by several fingers of overproof rum, I've managed to read a whole issue of The Belch Dimension. Issue 5 was the one I read, and it dates from 2005 - a period of surprising readibility which came after Sweet Bro's work had moved away from Chris-tier hand colouring, but before the panels became a complicated maze of clutter and swamp-toned shades.
Early Belch Dimension were simple but comprehensible. If they had been funnier, less derivative, and a great deal less casually racist (of which more later) they would not have looked out of place in a newspaper's comic section.
Issue 5 is one of several which can be downloaded as a pdf, so I've taken the liberty of attaching it here. The pdf conversion is charmingly inept.
Here's the front cover. Note that Sweet's grasp of perspective at this point could be described as "Chandlerian". Note also that the stick figure with the prominent tongue appears to be missing the rest of his body.
The next page is an advert for Sweet's novels. Observant readers may notice several clues as to why Sweet has failed to sell many books.
The first story in this issue is The Treehouse Warriors™ in "High Sea Hijinks". Sweet's Mary-Sue OC (hereafter called Jonichu) and his Rosechu are at the beach. Tongue-Boy is also there, and some kind of tough kid bully character who buries a giant mousetrap to ensnare Tongue-Boy but ends up caught in it himself. Classic slapstick capers.
Things pick up when Tongue-Boy finds a used syringe. Jonichu is shocked, but quickly theorises that a black person is probably to blame for dropping it. Of course, he doesn't say "black person". He says "spade".
It turns out that this is going to be a very special episode of The Belch Dimension.
As an aside - I expect that the female character is supposed to be pretty, but always looks to me like a scrawny transvestite wearing a wig he found in a urinal.
The "crack is wack and beware of black" teachable moment is interrupted by another character, whose hair resembles pubes. Pube-Head has found a treasure map, and the Treehouse Warriors™ go off to hunt for it, pursued by Tough Kid. The middle panel contains an example of Jonichu using his Mary-Sueperpowers to transform into a shape that emphasises whatever lame pun he's currently making. In this case, he becomes a shovel to reinforce that he "digs" the idea of treasure hunting.
Upon reaching the docks, the plot thickens again. This being The Belch Dimension, the docks are full of Mexicans.
It turns out that the Mexicans were shipping drugs. Let's face it, this being The Belch Dimension, it was always going to be that or sneaking into America and stealing all the women and jobs. Once Jive-Talkin' Black Friend uses his +2 racial bonus for identifying illegal substances to confirm that the crate of drugs is a crate of drugs, the Treehouse Warriors™ go full moralfag and start killing the hired labour.
That's about all the Belch Dimension I can stomach (geddit) in one sitting. The second half is less racist but even more moralfagtacular. Don't touch that dial.
Early Belch Dimension were simple but comprehensible. If they had been funnier, less derivative, and a great deal less casually racist (of which more later) they would not have looked out of place in a newspaper's comic section.
Issue 5 is one of several which can be downloaded as a pdf, so I've taken the liberty of attaching it here. The pdf conversion is charmingly inept.
Here's the front cover. Note that Sweet's grasp of perspective at this point could be described as "Chandlerian". Note also that the stick figure with the prominent tongue appears to be missing the rest of his body.
The next page is an advert for Sweet's novels. Observant readers may notice several clues as to why Sweet has failed to sell many books.
The first story in this issue is The Treehouse Warriors™ in "High Sea Hijinks". Sweet's Mary-Sue OC (hereafter called Jonichu) and his Rosechu are at the beach. Tongue-Boy is also there, and some kind of tough kid bully character who buries a giant mousetrap to ensnare Tongue-Boy but ends up caught in it himself. Classic slapstick capers.
Things pick up when Tongue-Boy finds a used syringe. Jonichu is shocked, but quickly theorises that a black person is probably to blame for dropping it. Of course, he doesn't say "black person". He says "spade".
It turns out that this is going to be a very special episode of The Belch Dimension.
As an aside - I expect that the female character is supposed to be pretty, but always looks to me like a scrawny transvestite wearing a wig he found in a urinal.
The "crack is wack and beware of black" teachable moment is interrupted by another character, whose hair resembles pubes. Pube-Head has found a treasure map, and the Treehouse Warriors™ go off to hunt for it, pursued by Tough Kid. The middle panel contains an example of Jonichu using his Mary-Sueperpowers to transform into a shape that emphasises whatever lame pun he's currently making. In this case, he becomes a shovel to reinforce that he "digs" the idea of treasure hunting.
Upon reaching the docks, the plot thickens again. This being The Belch Dimension, the docks are full of Mexicans.
It turns out that the Mexicans were shipping drugs. Let's face it, this being The Belch Dimension, it was always going to be that or sneaking into America and stealing all the women and jobs. Once Jive-Talkin' Black Friend uses his +2 racial bonus for identifying illegal substances to confirm that the crate of drugs is a crate of drugs, the Treehouse Warriors™ go full moralfag and start killing the hired labour.
That's about all the Belch Dimension I can stomach (geddit) in one sitting. The second half is less racist but even more moralfagtacular. Don't touch that dial.
